'It's a privilege to be this far into the playoffs' - Larson

Kyle Larson has been here before and that’s a good thing when it comes to being ready for the penultimate round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Sunday marks the fourth time Larson has made it to the Round of 8 in the postseason. A driver who survives and advances from this round will compete for a championship. A season’s worth of work to have a shot at the ultimate prize is on the line.

The stakes have never been higher, in other words. And that’s why someone like Larson, who has been through this before, can acknowledge that while the Round of 8 does feel different, it’s easier to handle.

“I think the first couple of years I ever made the Round of 8, yeah, you feel the pressure of it a little bit, or you put more pressure on yourself, or whatever the case may be,” Larson said Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “After you make it to the final round a few different times, it kind of calms your nerves a little bit, at least for me. I think a lot of that comes down to just confidence that you have in the group of people around you. I feel the same as I did the other rounds leading into it -- just excited to go racing, excited for the opportunity.”

Larson made the Round of 8 for the first time in 2019. It was the furthest he got.

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The next time he made a deep playoff run was in 2021. Not only was it a deep run, it went all the way to the championship race. In his first year at Hendrick Motorsports driving the No. 5 Chevrolet, Larson dominated the series for 10 wins and the championship. That was also the first time he made it to the Championship 4.

It was an early postseason exit in 2022. Last year, he was back at Phoenix Raceway with a shot at his second championship, but finished second in the hunt.

“It’s a privilege to be this far into the playoffs,” Larson said. “To see all the hard work of the regular season and the playoff races to this point of getting yourself to where you’re at in points. I’m ready to go and ready to have a good time, and hopefully we can execute at a high level and find ourselves with an opportunity at a championship in a few weeks.”

Larson entered the postseason as the sportsbook favorite to win the championship. He claimed the regular season championship and leads the series with six victories. Of the Round of 8 drivers, Larson and Joey Logano are the only ones who have won in the postseason. But in that category, Larson again stands the tallest as he’s won two of the six playoff races.

For good measure, he's also the defending winner at Las Vegas.